Bryce Harper caused some social media buzz after the free agent outfielder “liked” an Instagram post from MLB.com questioning whether the Dodgers were the favorites for Harper’s services. (NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson was among those who reported on the story.) It should be noted that the “like” came from Harper’s verified Instagram account and thus perhaps not necessarily from Harper himself if anyone else has access to Harper’s account. The “like” was also removed from the original post once the MLB.com account called attention to it in a follow-up posting. It could be a hint, it could be just a misclick, or it could be somewhere in between, though speculation continues to swirl around the possibility of Harper landing in Los Angeles.
In case Santa needs some reading material during his downtime tonight, here are some Christmas Eve items from around the baseball world…
- Both the Yankees and Mets had interest in Andrew Miller, though neither New York team extended an actual offer to the free agent lefty, SNY.tv’s Andy Martino reports (via Twitter). “Durability concerns led them to back off,” Martino writes, as Miller was limited to just 34 innings in 2018 due to a 60-day DL stint with a knee injury, plus separate DL stints for less-serious shoulder and hamstring injuries. Despite those issues, Miller was still able to land a two-year deal from the Cardinals worth $25MM in guaranteed money, which could end up being something of a bargain for St. Louis if Miller is healthy and able to regain his past dominance. Both the Yankees and Mets are continuing to look for bullpen help, and the Mets have already made relief pitching a big focus of their winter business, acquiring Edwin Diaz and signing Jeurys Familia.
- The Athletics are going “to be opportunistic and patient” in their search for starting pitching, Billy Beane told reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea). Though Mike Fiers just re-signed with the team, more work is necessary to bolster a rotation that is loaded with inexperience and injury questions. Since the A’s can’t spend at the top of the pitching market, “waiting it out is probably the way we’re going to look at it,” Beane said, so the club will see if it can grab an arm or two once prices start to drop later in the offseason.
- Beane also provided some news on Sean Manaea’s status, saying that the left-hander could be back in action “perhaps around the All-Star break.” This represents another positive development in Manaea’s timeline, as the young southpaw was initially projected to miss the entire 2019 season after undergoing shoulder surgery last September. Immediately after the procedure, however, manager Bob Melvin was cautiously optimistic that Manaea could return late in 2019. It’ll still be a while before we have a solid idea about how long Manaea will be out, and the Athletics are also sure to be as cautious as possible with the 26-year-old.
xabial
In instagram, it’s easy to like someone’s post by mistake
Case in point, Chapman liking “Fire Girardi” post by mistake after his 0-2 ALDS blunder not challenging that Sanchez play
Merry Christmas.
nste23
Like the thing that happened with Fiers, Merry Christmas to you too.
xabial
Yea Instagram has this insane feature where just clicking on the picture, likes it.
It’s not like Twitter or Facebook by any means.
Then again, if this creates controversy and Harper says he liked “by mistake”, I see it as equivalence of saying your Twitter account “got hacked” lol. I dont really think this shows preference, by any means. But I could be in denial
B-Twice
Lol no. You have to double tap.
xabial
Still easiest like, out all social media platforms
No one else has that “tap pic (x2), like” feature
xabial
Annoying; awkward if u accident like old pic
basebaIl1600
Especially if you want to check who’s tagged in a photo. Lol
Bochys Retirement Fund
Agreed, I too like plenty of 10’s on Instagram knowingly I deserve much less. However, a couple of Stella’s will do that and I really hope Harper doesn’t go to LA.
Melchez
Just imagine the reaction if he’d “liked” a post of him going to the Yankees… The world would move on it’s axis.
EndinStealth
Only slightly less with the Dodgers.
walls17
Merry Christmas MLBTR writers and commenters
acarneglia
Maybe Bryce just wants to screw with everyone!
wrigleywannabe
Stormy Harper?
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
^^^WINNER!!!
Jonthunder
Nah, that’s a bad joke.
Lefty Grove’s right hand
That is wonderful Christmas news! I thought Manaea could be out all year in ‘19.
nste23
I’d be stoked even if he’s limited to the bullpen or reduced innings.
Mattimeo09
Regardless of whether Harper actually liked the post, the Dodgers are clear front runners.
They moved several big contracts and opened up outfield spots. Meanwhile other teams like the Yankees, Cubs and White Sox are hoping to get him at a discount.
justinept
From NBC Sports Chicago more than a year ago:
Harper’s Instagram post during the Cubs-Nationals series went viral when he posed for a picture with friend Kris Bryant and their wives, using the hashtag, “#Back2BackOneDay.”
Whether Harper, a Rookie of the Year, MVP and perennial All-Star winds up in Chicago remains to be seen. But that Instagram post? Just some fun trolling.
“I do that to the media because they stir it more than I do,” Harper told The Washington Post. “That’s why I do the things I do at times, because it’s funny to me. It’s like, ‘All right, people want to talk about this and talk about that. Why not just throw this out there and make them think about it?’ ”
Joe Kerr
Exactly. He also liked something that Nicky Delmonico of the White Sox posted recently. One of them could mean something but probably not.
DarrenDreifortsContract
The Cubs are open to trading Bryant. So I guess that means the Dodgers will be getting both!
Cubbie Steve
Of course, it seems a bit excessive that he named his dog Wrigley
Jonthunder
Cubs are in on Harper.
EndinStealth
Hold your breath. Not gonna happen.
twentyforty
Stop reading the print media. They have no clue.
fmj
exactly. He posted something on Twitter about Ballpark Village in St. Louis a few years ago as well… something about “one of the best around”. Then the post with Nelly a couple weeks ago. People are acting like he’s wanting to come to st louis now. It means nothing. He’s getting people to talk, that’s all.
larry48
Bryant traded to LA dodgers to save money ! LOL
MetsYankeesRedSox
So if he tweets anything about feces on the sidewalks & poop patrol workers, then congrats SF!
Matthew dunne
Harper is a tool
fs54
Why? I just don’t get what he has done to piss off some fans.
NotaGM
I just think he’s a hot head.
bobtillman
In other news, Manny was seen eating a piece of Boston Cream Pie, meaning of course, his signing with the Red Sox is eminent…….
jbigz12
We’ll have this FA thing all figured out when we find out if Manny is a deep dish or NY style pizza guy.
nymetsking
He was at a California Pizza Kitchen over the weekend.
jbigz12
That’s just a bad choice.
Jonthunder
Yeah, even the name is oxymoronic.
DadsInDaniaBeach
Wait! What? There’s a California type pizza…(*_^)
hojostache
There is NY style pizza, Chicago pizza casserole, and then everything else. CPK is as much pizza as tofu is meat.
UncleGene
Casserole. Prezactly.
Gary White
He also was seen with a box of Boston Baked Beans.
Blue Baron
@bobtillman: People are eminent. Events such as signings are imminent.
bobtillman
….duh…..
Blue Baron
Then why didn’t you write it that way? “His signing with the Red Sox is eminent.” Duh.
xabial
Not long after Bryce Harper signed with the Nationals, he revealed his favorite teams in a bunch of sports. It was the: Cowboys, Yankees, Lakers, Duke.
“I’m a Washington Nationals fan, but I like the Yankees.”
ckelly.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c562353ef0153921fd3…
ckelly.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c562353ef014e8c13d6…
Yankee fan in me wants to believe hes creating leverage
Vizionaire
hope he gets 14 year $400 mil contract. congratulation!
Jimcarlo Slaton
Some fan he is.
enricopallazzo
The worst type of fan there is, a mainstream/“this team is good so I like them fan”.
justinept
Well, he’s from Vegas. It’s not like he had a hometown team.
hojostache
Future Raiders fans?
thecoffinnail
Ugh if that is true then Harper is nothing more than a fair weather bandwagon fan. Reminds me of the first time I met my brother-in-law and the topic of baseball came up. I said I was a Yankee fan (I am originally from Long Island). He replied “oh, I used to like the Yankees but now I am a San Francisco Giants fan”. That was back in 2015, so, I am sure he is a Red Sox or Astro’s fan now.
ColossusOfClout
Duke? I don’t think so. If he said that then he’s just pulling people’s chains. He’s been going to UNLV Runnin’ Rebels games since he was a kid.
xabial
College football?
“I love UT,” he said.
College basketball?
“Duke,” he said.
voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/09/bryc…
Vizionaire
will god give his blessings to his own angels for 2019 season? yup!
merry christmas to you all though here at beautiful coast we still have 2 hours and 18 minutes to go.
thecoffinnail
When you don’t capitalize God’s name, he doesn’t hear your prayers.
(Yes that was sarcasm)
unpaidobserver
The A’s strategy is to keep marginally improving the roster through modest additions. I do feel that sometimes the sum of the modest additions is about the same as the impact addition they are avoiding, however. To me, Soria Rodney and Fiers is less impactful than, say, Dallas Keuchel, yet the money looks to be lining up dollarwise this year.
bowserhound
I’m more concerned about the part about waiting for an arm or two. They need more starters than that to start the season, especially with their SP injury history.
arc89
Right now teams are over paying for back end rotation starters. Harvey and CaHill were both over paid given their injury history. Waiting for the market to go down and sign a back end rotation pitcher is worth the wait.
brewcrewbernie
Everyone knows Santa has no down time tonight! It’s his busiest night of the year!
RIPprosports
OMG Harper liked a Dodger post he’s totally signing with the Dodgers!!!!
C’mon people. He’s not going to be a Dodger. So stupid,Dodgers aren’t either.
itslonelyatthetrop
Might be. But, I agree, this is like him being seen wearing a Stetson and the reaction, “HARPER TO TEXAS!”
rob romani
I don’t know who signs Harper but he doesn’t deserve all that money!!
itslonelyatthetrop
Deserves every cent he can get. People pay the money to see him and his team play and he’s the leading man on about any team he’s on. After people voluntarily spend their money, I’d prefer the majority of it go to the players rather than ownership.
Ejemp2006
I prefer majority of dollar go for support: team physicians, analytics, team psychologists, etc. 100% of good player is less 1% of team help to compete high level. Plus, team and player support, these local normal people, pay the tax, build the park. Player and owner money stay great but maybe stagnate. Operations cost go up? Then good jobs for people who in love with baseball work, but not big fast strong for field play.
YakAttack
You must be fun at parties.
rob romani
He sticks out to much!!
stymeedone
@itslonel
Harper looks like a younger version of Adam Dunn. Cant count on average or defense, but the power and walks will be there. Other than his HRs, he will drive in what a solid middle infielder will (60-70) and not guarantee you 100 Rbis. He is faster than Dunn. Still I don’t want my team giving him that contract.
jbigz12
Comping Dunn to Harper is perhaps the worst comp I have ever seen.
Dat boi
Chatter amongst the player agents is that the RAYS are closing in on a deal for Kris Bryant. The Cubs are trying to clear money for Harper as well as replenish their depleted minor league system.
Dadbodfromseattle
Lol no.. there is no chatter. Troll elsewhere
Chicago_Cucks
Its all over ESPN right now.
ullnvrknw
It’s amazing how the media controls the destiny of everything in today’s world. They can take any average Joe and make them a figure more powerful than and important than ever before. I’m not saying Harper is average by any means but he’s also not 35 million good also. He’s realistic market value is in the 25-27 million range
Frisco500
Harper averages 30 HR’s and 90 RBI’s a year. If the Dodgers think that’s worth 400+ Million dollars, 10-14yrs, as a Giants fan I would love to see them sign him.
davidcoonce74
Wait a minute, it’s almost 2019 and you’re still using RBI as a measure of player value? That’s cute.
Harper was the 17th-best offensive player in baseball in 2018, and the 9th-best in the second half, by OPS+. He’s an incredibly young free agent with game-changing talent. I don’t think any team is giving out ten+ year contracts anymore, but he will probably be worth that dollar value over the life of whatever contract he gets.
User 4245925809
David.. I’ve seen you more than once knock others for using rbi’s as a reference to a player’s being decent or not. Now I’m not going to sit here and preach to you that it is, nor isn’t, but for nearly a century using HR, runs, rbi and .OBP was pretty much what was used to judge an offensive player’s worth in the game.
There were times when less than 20SB led the league if am remembering my history correct and a lowly ..301 .avg led the AL in hitting as well (68).
The game has constantly evolved and changed from time to time, just like the way we now use these metrics to judge players. Please stop being so harsh on some who don’t agree. i don’t totally either.
davidcoonce74
Fine. Fair enough. But RBI literally tell you nothing about a player’s ability.
davidcoonce74
Batting average, of course, is the same. The difference between batting 250 and 300 is 25 hits in a season.
rocky7
Great comment man…..guess you and I are in the minority these days about measuring a players value….all seems to have changed with these new metrics…..in my opinion their nothing more than “rational” excuses for play that when compared to HOF players pale in comparison….guess that’s how value is judged these days!
rocky7
You know….its Christmas DC74 but do you always seem to have to reward yourself for being the smartest guy in the room (in your mind)…..METRICS are a modern way of excusing poor play by todays ballplayers…..HOF’ers are measured by standards that you can’t fathom!
daved
RBI tell me that someone who gets 100 on a regular basis is usually batting 3rd or 4th, and they bat 3rd or 4th because they have the ABILITY to drive in runs. There’s a reason why some guys bat 7th or 8th and others bat 3rd or 4th. Do you think a guy like Wong would get 100 RBI batting 3rd or 4th? Maybe Peter Bourjos would have gotten 100 RBI batting 3rd or 4th? RBI still mean something because the game is won by scoring runs. Just take a look at the top 20 career RBI leaders and tell me what you think about their ability? They all look like HOF to me.
stratcrowder
I wonder how baseball made it through 150 years without you guys and lame stats like RBI’s. One look at the top 50 RBI guys of all-time says nothing about those players. Especially those guys like Hank Aaron. What was the Hall Of Fame thinking with all those guys on that list!?!?
stymeedone
Yet Rod Carew would get those 25 extra hits every year. It wasn’t an accident. It was also worth more than 25 extra walks, which now seems to hold more weight. Before RBIs were discounted, it was rare to see someone hit 30 HRs and not drive in 100. The skill of hitting with men on base is becoming lost. I prefer the superstar that can hit with men on. Harper and Bryant sure seem to put up a lot of numbers with the bases empty.
stratcrowder
Yessir!
daved
Harper is a .career 943 OPS guy with men on base.. Bryant .922. Both numbers are higher than their career OPS average of .900. What other false information do you want to add?
jbigz12
There’s a better way to measure hitting with men on than RBIS. You could simply look at how he hits with RISP or men on base if that’s what you wanted to know. Anyway you want to frame the argument RBIS while they are a historical benchmark aren’t a great way to determine player value. If for example harper hit .350 with RISP how many RBIs would he get? Well that depends if there were one or two runners on in front of him. Harper has no control over that.
People get too caught up In metrics at time. I think DC74 is one of them. 25 hits is a big deal between hitting .250 and .300 btw. Walks certainly get overvalued by people that post on this board I can’t argue that. It’s almost unfathomable for people to believe you can be a highly productive major leaguer who doesn’t take many walks. But like I said some historical measures such as RBIS don’t really paint the whole picture. Too many variables the batter does not control.
LongTimeFan1
@david
Minimizing batting average is very shortsighted. More hits are better than fewer.
I’ll take the .300 hitter every day and those 25 additional hits in 500 AB’s which could make or break a game and season. 25 additional hits with RISP could result in 25- 50 or more additional runs.
A .300 hitter changes the complexion of a line up and impacts the opposition. The more .300 hitters, the better. The more complete a hitter, the better. Can’t draw a walk when a pitcher throws strikes.
LongTimeFan1
@david
A lot of RBI’s do. It tells us a player capitalizes on opportunity.
Khris Davis had 123 RBI, and batted .275 with RISP.
And .228 with no one on.
But generally speaking, stats have to be considered in context. a .900 OPS tells me nothing without sample size.
RIPprosports
Metric nerd
Stop hating on us normal people
Melchez
“Harper averages 30 HR’s and 90 RBI’s a year. If the Dodgers think that’s worth 400+ Million dollars, 10-14yrs, as a Giants fan I would love to see them sign him.”
Dodgers just got rid of a guy that averages 25 homers and 75 RBI and a guy that averages 27 homers and 97 RBI. They need someone to replace that production. Do you really think Tholes and Verdugo will do that?
socalbum
LOL! Extrapolating averages over a 162 game season are meaningless for Puig and Kemp. Puig has only hit 20+ home runs twice in his career and Kemp is on the wrong side of his prime and no longer able to come close to playing 162 games. Dodgers do need someone to add lost offense (including Grandal’s) and Harper seems like the odds on favorite to fill that role — but he is not going to get anywhere close to $400MM.
WrongVerb
Bryce Harper with “The ‘like’ heard ’round the world”
billysbballz
Harper will make close and probable more then 35 mill per year for around 8 years? Stanton whose numbers are better will average 22mil per year on salary cap for next 9 years. I’m not sure why all the Stanton hate on here every time his name is mentioned many anti Yankee fans think the contract is awful. The Dodgers will have to decide if Harpers worth 35 mil per ????
stratcrowder
I couldn’t agree more
driftcat28 2
You answered your own question. The hate is because he’s a Yankee, plain and simple. Stanton just had a pretty good season but some how it’s twisted to him being garbage. Same reason Gary Sanchez is the worst player in MLB history and should just give up after one bad season…because he’s a Yankee. You can never really take the comments on these threads seriously anymore, real baseball discussion no longer takes place
jdgoat
I think a big part of it is the strikeout issues Stanton had. That might be what scares more people. And Stanton didn’t have better numbers than Harper. Harper had the better bat and had to play out of position which hurt his WAR, something Stanton didn’t have the burden to do.
daved
This is funny about Andrew Miller, the Yankees, Mets and cardinals. So once again, Mozeliak OUTBID himself to get Miller. They guy is an overrated baseball man.
baseballpun
If anyone has a model FO, it’s the Mets.
daved
They might now that they hired Brodie Van Wagenen.
baseballpun
Sure.
stansfield123
That’s not how it works. Free agency isn’t an auction. This is what it took for Miller team to sign right now, rather than wait and see what other offers come in as the market thins out..
And win-win deals like this are usually the best strategy in business. You don’t actually want the other side to lose, when you’re closing a deal.
Even if there is a chance that Miller’s market would’ve never developed, and he would’ve had to scamper back to the Cards at the end of the off-season, for a cheaper deal, that’s not really how you wanna be dealing with people you will then have to rely on to perform for you. You don’t want to be closing deals with people who are cornered and have no other choice, you want them to choose to deal with you, on equal terms.
DadsInDaniaBeach
well said
daved
or, Miller signed with STL because nobody else offered him a deal. Kind of like the article stated. But as the spin doctor for Mozeliak, you make a great argument.
omahamadness
@daved Since it’s Christmas I’m going to give you the gift you are always looking for….attention. Now go crawl back under your Cubs rock and hide for another 100+ years until your team wins another WS.
daved
That’s cute. Best part about all this is I’m not a Cubs fan.
baseballpun
Proof that not all a-holes are Cubs fans.
daved
No, 99% of the aholez are Cards fans.
Lance Wilson
yea Go STL
JKB 2
100 plus years??
JKB 2
@omahamadness
Jerk
chief 2
Maybe the Dodgers are going to get Stanton from the Yankees, and the Yankees will be going after Harper. Lol.
theredsoxrule
liking a post is news? give me a break…this writer is too dumb to insult
driftcat28 2
Is this what the Yankees do now? Not even make offers to players. First Corbin now Miller. What a joke. Miller was a bargain at that price and the team could’ve topped that or at least made it a little competitive
Yankeepatriot
The Yankees don’t need a reliever whose arm is about to explode…..
Warning Track
With the Yankees out of the mix, Harper may not see that $400MM that had been written may times this past year or so. I do believe he gets $350 million for 10 years from the Dodgers. The Dodgers dumped a lot of payroll to snag the star free agent.
showman
Brodie is signing Harper
Lance Wilson
Bryce is going to the Cardinals or the Dodgers and that’s it.
daved
You got half of that correct.